


Partners in crime

by PenNameArtist, StormblazeP51



Category: Cars (Pixar Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: Betrayal, Characters and Tags may be added later on, Friendship buildup, Kind of a 'Never Judge a book by it's cover' Rewrite, M/M, starting from new
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24626731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenNameArtist/pseuds/PenNameArtist, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormblazeP51/pseuds/StormblazeP51
Summary: This is kind of a rewrite of "Never judge a book by it's cover" and a bit like a sequel to "Flint and Steel".It's also a Collab betweenPenNameArtistand myself again.
Relationships: Steel&Flint, Steel&Jeffrey, Steel/Bruce
Comments: 11
Kudos: 2





	1. Not one of us

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Guys! Yes! I am uppoading something! 
> 
> This is a collaboration between the lovely **PenNameArtist** and I, and I can't thank her enough for agreeing to write this with me. Now without long ado, have fun reading!

Everything was quiet. Unnaturally quiet. But Steel couldn’t figure out what it was about the silence that bugged him so much.

He had just awoken that morning, already feeling queasy, his gut telling him that something wasn’t right. He had left the Warehouse barely after sunrise, the bright fireball just peeking above the horizon, slowly beginning to spill warm light over the monotonous landscape. The Taurus started his patrol at the fence that surrounded the property on which the old building stood. He used the fenceline as his border to patrol, circling the perimeter once over. It seemed the rogues were getting bolder, and one had since managed to bite a tire-sized hole into the metal gates. Skylar and Zach had chased the SUV away in the night though, before he had been able to infiltrate any further into their territory. 

Something moved in Steel’s peripheral vision, and he froze. He ducked low to the ground, his undercarriage almost scraping against the earth, as he turned to identify the source of the movement.

A fat hare sat all by itself, nibbling at a single patch of roots that peeked out of the ashy ground. The animal seemed completely unaware of the danger it was in, and kept on eating. Steel krept closer to it, his mouth watering at the perspective of getting a good meal for once. He was so close now that he could hear the rabbit’s breathing and smell it’s greyed fur, yet the creature never noticed him; The position he was in disabled the hare from smelling him, as he was facing into the wind.

He tensed up, his focus closing in on the unaware prey in front of himself, and he could feel the tension in his rear axles as they readied for him to finally pounce. 

Suddenly, A _crack_ to his left, the hare startled and fled, rushing back into it’s burrow in the ground. Damn fast food.

Frustrated, the Taurus’s engine made a harsh growl, and he whipped around to the source of the disturbance, perplexed at what he saw. 

Zach, his admittedly unwanted Second in Command, looked down at him with a smug, almost perversely satisfied grin. From the higher land he sat atop of, his shadow seemed to loom over the leader’s form.  
“Good morning young leader.” He began, “I’m sorry if we disturbed your ‘hunt’, but rest assured, that’ll be the last of your worries soon.”

“What do you want then?” The younger male asked, feeling fed up with his interruption.

Zach only chuckled, and Steel backed up a good three feet suddenly, as seven of his lower ranked Hunters appeared - seemingly out of nowhere. One of them was a pickup truck that they had allowed to seek shelter about a month ago; His bed was full with containers filled to the brim with what he’d assumed was water. 

“Zach, what’s that water for?” he asked carefully. 

“Oh you know, I thought you needed some good cleaning, from the outside,” The hunters had him surrounded now, “ _And_ from the inside.”

Zach’s own engine began to emit a low growl and they moved in on him. The Taurus whipped around, deflecting the other’s sudden avances and viciously lashing out; He was biting, snapping, and kicking at anything that he could reach, but they soon had him subdued. He made a harsh roar as he felt sharp teeth dig into his back and sides, leaving open wounds that stung as they were met with fresh air.

The group outnumbered him easily, and it wasn’t long before he was forced to give in. They pinned the Taurus to the floor, blocking him on every side to ensure he wouldn’t try to shove his way out of their grasp. He struggled, squirming and trashing as the fuel intake at his flank was forcefully pried open, and his engine whined in distress as he felt the first container being emptied into his fuel tank. He revved his engine angrily, trying to get away, but they had a good grip on him. Two pushed down his nose, two held him steady, and still another two immobilized his rear wheels, rendering him stuck.

The pickup approached then, and began to pour the contents of the containers into his fuel tank, in a slow, almost torturous pace. After one container was empty, the pick up grabbed a second one, and poured it out too into Steel’s tank. It was cold against his interior, and much thinner than oil. Already, the water started to affect him, and he started laboring harder and harder for breath. His engine started to ache badly, and it spluttered and hacked as his systems pumped H2O instead of fuel. Eventually, he managed to wriggle free - or more rather, had they let him go on purpose, knowing that he was too weak to fight now. He didn’t consider whether they had on purpose or not, only wanting to get out of there as fast as he could...

\--Which turned out to be about 200 metres, before he dissolved into a coughing fit, vomiting up water, until he shakily, finally collapsed. He panted, close to hyperventilation as his vision started to blur. He coughed and hacked until his throat was sore, yelping for each breath as he fought against the numbness that started to spread throughout his body.

He whimpered as he felt Zach slide up against him, the dark brown hummer patting his flank in mock comfort. He leaned in closely and whispered with a sweet, consoling voice, “Please, don’t take it too personal, dear Ricko. I _do_ like you,” - He sat down on his rear axles and continued to caress the younger car’s flank in ‘comfort’ - “I just don’t like the position you’re in, and you have to admit, now you’ve got a lot less to be worried about. Don’t worry, pet, you will meet them again soon. But now, if you’ll excuse me, the clan needs a new leader. Oh! And before I forget it, that female that you’ve set eyes on, I hope you don’t mind that she’ll bear my offspring instead of yours!” He laughed darkly and got back up, and slammed the still open cap of the younger’s fuel intake closed. He drove off, shouting back to him,

“And _good riddance_!” 

The next thing he felt was a hard, agonizing blow to his roof, and in a matter of seconds his world turned black.


	2. As the crow flies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get worse for our poor Taurus, sensitive people, you might wanna grab your kitten, puppy, hamster or whatever pet you own and a tissue box....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, as it's the matter with most things, it has to become worse before it can get better, so buckle up, we're about to enter a bumpy stretch of track!

Something poked against his flank, nose and trunk. Something pointy, feathery and-

“ _Craaw! Craaw! Craaaw!_ ” Steel’s eyes snapped open and he gasped for air as a flock of large crows startled away from his form, irritated that their meal was no longer on the menu. He coughed violently, his lungs hurting from the sudden amount of cool air. His head was pounding, he felt cold and hot at the same time, and he was wobbly on his axles. Slowly, and with much effort, he struggled to get back onto his wheels; Shakingly he dragged himself under a small overhang, laying down again to try to regain his depleted strength.

It had been early noon and clear skies as he lost consciousness, but now the sky was overhung with thick, heavy, dark grey clouds, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Thunder rumbled off in the distance, and he looked up, as an intra-cloud bolt of lightning lit up the dark skies like an explosion. A corebeat later, heaven’s gates opened and it started raining. The sound of the heavy drops that patterned across the ground worked like a lullaby, and he soon found himself falling asleep once again...blissfully unaware of the gruesome things that he would soon be forced to see.

He awoke as a sunray cheekily poked him in the face. Groggily blinking his eyes open, he groaned as the first thing he came to was pain. He took a few deep breaths, confused as he only smelled the wet soil and ash, but no other cars. Then the memories hit him like a freight train. 

There was one sentence that sent chills down his spine.

_“...you will meet them again soon...”_

Gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain as best as he could, he struggled his way back up onto his wheels, back into life.

His orientation was completely off-set, he had no idea where he was, nor where he was headed, he simply hoped that his subconsciousness would lead him to the right direction. And so he started to roll away by his own power, seeing double and with a pounding head. 

His drive came to an abrupt end sometime later, in front of the old warehouse, as a certain scent filled his nostrils. It was a metallic, slightly salty and gut-wrenching scent that he knew all too well.

The scent of blood.

His senses snapped to high alert, and he rushed into the building, his core beating so hard and so fast that he could feel it up in his throat.

“ _Jeffrey! Duke! Where are you!?!_ ” He shouted. 

No answer.

He drove all around the ground floor, shouting the names of his loved ones, hoping and praying for an answer from someone. A soft noise from the basement made him drive down into the cooler parts of the building. His eyes needed some time to adjust to the change of light, but once they had, he recoiled at the sight. About ten dead cars lay strewn across the basement, and among them was Stanley. 

With a sob, he tore around and fled out of the basement, shouting his caretakers names and hoping for some kind of an answer.

“Guys?! Come on this, this isn’t funny!” he hated how thick his voice sounded as tears started to well up in his eyes. He then spotted a mangled, chrome blue frame on the gallery, beside it, a piece of cream coloured metal. 

“Duke! Winston!” 

He sped up the ramp, and for a second hope bloomed in his chest, but it was crushed the very second he laid eyes on the older cars. Duke had a hole in his head, probably from a bullet. Winston had an iron rod jammed through his chest. 

“...Duke?..Win-winston?” he asked softly, but neither of the two cars answered, or even just reacted. The rational part of his mind told him that they were dead, but he refused to believe it. 

He slowly drove up to them, and carefully touched Duke’s flank with his nose. He shied away with a soft gasp as he felt the ice cold frame. 

He nudged the older cars again, trying to get some sort of reaction out of them, but nothing happened. 

Then, something in a room behind him suddenly creaked, and he whipped around. 

It was ‘his’ bedroom, but it had creaked open a few inches and he drove closer. He heard shallow breathing and pushed the door open, inhaling at what he saw. 

Jeffrey was lying on the ground, He had deep wounds from teeth and other things all over his body. His blind eyes were halfway closed, a thin streak of blood seeped from his mouth. His flanks were barely moving.

“Jeffrey?” he asked, his voice not more than a rough whisper. The old car turned to his voice.

“.......Nugget….?.....”

“........yes!....”

Steel rushed to the old Chevelle and pressed himself against him, shivering against the other’s cold frame. 

“I-I’m here Jeff! I, you just hold on, just hold on! I’ll get help and then, then, then Oh! I don’t know!” 

“......Nugget…..hush…….” 

“No! You need help! I I don’t know how to help you but, I, I-I’ll get help! I’ll get help you hear?! Just hold on a bit longer and I’ll, I’ll go into the city and get an ambulance or something!” 

“....No…...no…...I will….die here…..That’s fine…...okay…?” 

“NO! I-I I can’t lose you! I can’t lose you! Please! Fight it, hold on just a bit!” he pleaded, barely able to see through the hot tears that streamed down his cheeks. 

But Jeffrey didn’t hear him anymore, his breath came in slow, shallow gasps, and his eyes were glassy and empty. Flickering.

“.......Love you…………….nugg’t……..” Slowly the old car’s eyes closed, his last breath leaving him in a soft sigh. Biting his lower lip Steel pressed himself against the other, crying and trembling, unwilling to accept reality. 

Unwilling to accept the fact that he was alone now. 

He cried, his body wracked with pain and fear. His mind was so suddenly distraught that he didn’t even register the sound of someone closing in behind him.

He startled as he heard a growl from behind himself. He turned to come face to face with a large bordeaux coloured SUV and a slightly smaller snow white Jeep. He growled and puffed himself up in defense, knowing that he would have no chance against both rogues, and that he would only have a couple more minutes before he would probably die.

If he let them kill him, that was. 

This was still his territory, and he would be a pretty lousy leader if he didn’t know ways to get away from sudden, infiltrating dangers.

Grabbing a good tirefull of ash and dust, he threw it in a heavy cloud into the Rogue's eyes, shoving them aside harshly as he fled out of the room, down the ramp, and out of the warehouse. 

He would have to say a proper goodbye another day. 

He grit his teeth against the piercing pain that started to spread from his engine throughout his tormented frame. He drove in the direction of the fence, shocked to see that it had been opened up completely, and three more Rogues had found their way to the warehouse. They were busy with smelling the fence, and startled as he zoomed past them, his rear wheels lost their traction for a second and in his heckle he drifted further out of the curve than he would have preferred.

He hoped that would be the end of it, but the sound of a revving engine behind himself told him all he needed to know;

The Rogues were in pursuit of him. 

His damaged engine wasn’t able to produce the speed he usually needed to get away from the Rogues, and he cried out in a mix of shock and pain as he felt sharp teeth graze his left flank. A look in his rearview mirror and he knew for sure that they were after him. The SUV had caught up to him and was trying to snap at him, his teeth grazing his sides and over his livery, but not yet latching onto his fender. He tried to get what he could out of his engine, tried to get at least a foot between them and himself. 

And then the SUV caught his rear tire, and everything went straight to hell. 

His front wheels blocked and he lost control, turning over several times he ended up on his roof. 

And on the railway. 

It took the Rogues only a couple of seconds to catch up and he went into full panic mode as they started to advance on him. Two latched onto his left flank, biting and tearing and trying to fucking eat him.

Why couldn’t Zach have just killed him then and there? 

A loud, sharp whistle got the Rogues to back up, one bumping against him with enough force to knock him back onto his wheels. A train was headed their way and the Rogues were stuck in indecision, not being able to decide if they should try to kill the Taurus or run from the train. 

Steel meanwhile made up his mind. He scratched his last power reserves together and drove towards the approaching train as fast as he could. The Rogues were too perplexed to realize that their prey was escaping, and by the time they did, he was already busy trying to get inside a moving cargo wagon. He swerved out of the trains way, hearing another of it’s piercing whistles, and picked a single car out of the train’s haul with an opened side door. He jumped at it and managed to get his front into the wagon, his rear hung in the air for only a few precious seconds, until he was able to pull himself on board.

He watched almost indifferently as the train effortlessly left the rogues in the dust, their frustrated whines and roars soon fading in the distance. One clearly stupid one tried to go after him still, but his silhouette was quickly blurred out in the kicked up ash from the train passing through. That was one less problem he had to deal with now.

He moaned softly as his wounds caught up with him, and he crawled into a corner, pressing against the wall and slowly sinking down to lay his life in the train’s care. The steady sound of it’s wheels clicking over the pieces of railing and the sway of the car soon lulled him to sleep once more.

Someone gave him a rough shove into the flank and he snapped awake with a grunt. Three brawny Forklifts in conductor’s uniform glared at him, the sun was right in their back and blinded him - his mind was still too sleepdrunk to realize what was going on. 

One of the Forklifts, presumably an older female, cleared her throat, driving up to him and seeming to inspect him from nose to trunk. Then, once she seemed to be satisfied, she rolled back to her colleagues and turned to face him.

“Mister, I don’t know who you are, where you’re from, or what you want, but what is a dirty and filthy vagabond like you doing on this train? Care to tell me that?” Her voice was sharp and stern, and Steel couldn’t help but cower before her.

What should he do? He didn’t trust his wheels to hold his weight, but he was no fool, those Forklifts would call the cops and then he could say ‘Bye-bye’ to his precious freedom. They might laugh over his arrest; The famous cop-avoidant streetracer, taken down after trying to hitch a ride with a train.

Making up his mind, he dared to take the risk, the forklifts were getting impatient with him but he was sure to give them a show. 

Getting up on his wheels he turned to face the door.   
“Mister?” the female spoke again, her voice now not so sure anymore. The train was moving pretty fast, and he didn’t seem in the best of conditions either.

Yet against her better judgement, with a roar and a revving engine, the Taurus bolted out of the wagon and down the street, ignoring the sparks that shot up from his bumpers as he landed roughly onto the pavement. He sped off into the next intersection and off into the city he could see in the distance. Now, he was sure that they wouldn’t find him anymore.

But now he was also lost. He had no idea where he was, nor who lived here. How long was he asleep, and how far had the train gone from Chicago? 

Sighing, he slowly cruised around the back alleys of the new place he’d landed in, his engine still aching and his body hurting. The bite wounds in his flanks had inflamed and he could feel the beginning of a fever. His stomach growled loudly, but the hunger-pains were long since a steady companion of himself. He felt worn out and tired, even though he’d spent most of the last twenty-four hours either asleep or close to it. Maybe it was the fever doing this to him. As he drove by a puddle he got a good look at himself and sneered.

He really was filthy. 

Dirt, dried blood and ash stuck to him and formed a crust at his flanks and trunk, his meager body showing each rip perfectly through his black skin. Scratches and dents littered his sides, and two baseball-sized dents pushed down over his hood, where he’d been pinned before. Several differently sized gashes cut into his flanks. Even his eyes looked terrible, red and baggy, like he had just crawled out of a grave.

He passed by what he assumed was a restaurant, and dared to drive behind it to where the trash was disposed of. What he found there was a meal for a king, at least by his standards. A whole cooked chicken, potatoes and carrots had been simply thrown into the bin and left to waste, and it seemed that the bin had been too full and they had fallen to the ground. With his stomach growling up a storm he drove to the trash bin and started eating. While he gobbled up the chicken and the vegetables he was unaware that the restaurant’s back door had been opened, and that he was being watched by a suddenly very confused vehicle.

Eyes darting up, he saw only the blurry outline of the dark blue car towering over him, elevated from the ramp into the back of the building. His engine made a hiss of both fear and defense, wheezed out from his watered-over engine. He didn’t give the stranger a chance to speak, only tearing out of there in an instant - but not before grabbing a sizable chunk out of the chicken meat. He didn’t look back as he went off to finish his meal in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankies for reading, we hope you enjoyed!   
> Comments are as always apreciated!


	3. The Unidentified Fleeing Object

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old friend appears.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewwo we're back again!   
> Have some more Steel randomness and Flint cuteness!

The day had started out innocently enough - morning routine, get to work with enough time to take into account the fact that he’d be waiting in front of a train for about fifteen minutes, and then deal with customer’s orders for roughly six hours. Simple enough for a day in the life of the young Mazda.  
But from the moment he’d rolled through the front door, there were problems. Firstly, he was one of only two waiters in the building - which yes, seemed fine, until you realized it was Sunday morning, and everyone and their brother in town came in to get brunch about the same time. In a town where there were more acres of crops than residents, there’s only ever one good place to eat after church.  
The second problem was the sheer force of looming failure over the navy blue car’s hood that day. He blamed the weather, being cloudy and overcast and ready for their first autumn frosting, but there were days like this no matter what: _Clumsy_ days.  
He also could have blamed it on the rather impatient old geezer that had barged in so suddenly, not realizing the literal crowd of other vehicles who were already seated, that had been the cause of his trip-up. But no excuse he made was a decent enough one to cover up the fact that _yes_ , he did just spill an entire plate onto the floor.  
As the second waiter went out to deal with the rest of the folks out on the main floor, young Flint set to cleaning up the mess. He threw out the meal in the back rather carelessly, however, and he didn’t really feel like wrestling to put it back into the bin - the stray cats would find it eventually. And he had more work to be done.  
More problems and endless frustrations later, he went to throw out another pile of trash - this time however, not one that he’d caused - when he stumbled across something _beyond_ weird standing out in the alley way.  
It wasn’t uncommon knowledge to find strayers in town. They weren’t the most frequent things, but every now and again he would pass one by. But he’d never seen someone act so… _feral_. He didn’t even have time to register their appearance, before they’d hissed a warning and tore off from the scene with two thirds of his previously thrown out chicken. They were like nothing he’d ever had to deal with before, and he’d certainly never seen a car of such an initially well-built model just roaming the streets. Come to think of it, there was something about them that felt weirdly familiar…  
“Flint!” One of the chefs called from the inside of the building. The Mazda shrugged and turned back to his work, pushing the thought from his mind for now. But once the day was over - finally - and he’d begun to pack up to go home, he couldn’t help but wonder if, and where, he would have seen that car before…

Last month was definitely odd. He had gone out on his first field-trip in the Triple E, a sort of initiation test if you will, that took him out to the backstreets of Chicago, Illinois. Cooper - his ass-hat of a manager in the company - was forced to take him with him, grumbling and groaning the whole way, until he’d finally been fed up enough to leave the young car alone on the street while he went to finish getting what they were there for.  
He’d gotten spooked, ran off where he shouldn’t have, and ended up treading through territory he hadn’t known was being used by another. There, in an abandoned warehouse in the dead warehouse districts, he’d come face to face with what he believed was death, and later realized was the leader of a very primitive-living clan of vehicles. He had no better way to describe it than that.  
The following twelve or so hours had been insanely crazy for the small-town vehicle. He’d never known about the kind of world that some cars lived in until now, how insanely dangerous some circles were. Though he didn’t exactly seem sympathetic towards the smaller car, the clan leader had offered him an escape back home, and saved him from a rather dangerous situation with rogues in the area.  
He’d learned - and more rather understood - a lot about _his_ kind of world then. The kind of dangers they faced, the kind of lives they led, and what it was to be a tough turn-the-other-cheek kind of fighter like him. Confused as he may have been then - and still was now - he was glad he’d gotten the chance to meet them, and to learn that the world was a whole lot bigger than he could have ever imagined it was.

That was the type of character, he realized, he had seen back there, fighting over scraps in the alley. But no vehicles like that lived out here, so far as he knew. At least, non so primitive as to snarl and flee from a young restaurant employee.  
But then the realization dawned on him. That wasn’t...that hadn’t been...no… _could it_? How? _Why_?  
‘ _No,_ ’ He thought, ‘ _surely it wasn’t. How could he be this far from home, so suddenly?_ ’ He surely couldn’t have been run off, he seemed far too tough to back down from a fight. And he had a whole clan behind him! He’d never abandon it, so no, it couldn’t be. Maybe he had just seen things that weren’t there.

He turned down the angled street back home, back to his single living quarters in the middle of the tiny town of Fostoria, Ohio. He’d lived here all his life, and lived in this house for the last four years. It wasn’t much, but it was home.  
‘Home’ was small, but decent living for himself, in a suburb region of town, where houses lined each side of the road, with a decent enough space between fence lines. He rolled in, flicking the light on, and was quickly greeted by Orion, his calico cat. He jumped up onto his hood, purring in his face as he greeted his owner. The Mazda smiled gently, and went on his way of housecleaning whilst the cat lay sprawled out across his front. It did leave a bit of sight problems, but at least the cat was happy, and he wasn’t all too bothered by it.  
‘ _At least it’s over now,_ ’ he thought to himself, ‘ _the crazy day is over, and there won’t be any more crazy things today._ ’

Oh how wrong he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankies for reading!   
> Comments are as always appreciated!


	4. Because I Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Respect and Care were things that needed to be earned.......................or were they?.........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yas! Another Chapter is done and up!   
> Have some confused Flint and hurty Steel.....................as if that's something new....xD

Wherever he was, if that place always threw out whole chickens, then he was gonna stay!   
Smelting pits in a nutshell, he hadn’t eaten that much in months, and his belly was quiet for once, now finally full and sated. He lazily nibbled off the last scraps of the meat off of the white bones before he threw them into a corner and licked his snout clean.   
But now he was thirsty. 

Apparently, whoever lived next door liked to water their garden a lot, and a sizeable puddle had formed beside the fence. Carefully, he drove up to it and lapped up the liquid; It tasted like soil and pavement, but he couldn’t complain. The river that had run through the territory hadn’t been the cleanest either.

Once his thirst was taken care of, he slowly drove out of the alley he’d been hiding in, and was just about to pull out onto the street as he spotted a young Mazda. Nothing out of the ordinary to him.

Well, if it weren’t for his navy paint, and the white stripe down his hood and roof. The kid didn’t seem to notice him, despite driving by him and missing his nose by literal inches. 

‘ _Flint? Wha- Oh gosh please tell me I did not land in that kid’s hometown!_ ’

But apparently, he had.

He watched as the RX-7 went off on his way, turning down a street into a housing development that looked very clean and well kept compared to the world he was used to. But it wasn’t as bustling and noisy as the civil streets of Chicago had been. What backwards hellscape was this place, anyways?

With growing curiosity - and no alternative choices anyways - he followed the familiar vehicle, staying far enough out of range to be detected. Not that the other was very good at using his senses anyways. What a pity.

He watched from a few houses down as he turned and disappeared in a home, and once he was sure he was there to stay for a time, he chose to come up and see if it really was the kid he thought it was.

As he’d gone to knock on the door - a very odd thing to do in and of itself, but he understood how to well enough, and this wasn’t an enemy of his...well yet - he’d suddenly felt a sting in his engine. Everything was catching up to him again, and the act of eating only seemed to worsen the situation of his waterlogged engine. But damn, that chicken was good…

He gave the door a few knocks with the edge of his tire tread, before sinking back on his wheels. Maybe he wouldn’t answer, maybe he could leave again, could creep away and take care of himself rather than look like he was asking for help. But then again, he wasn’t sure where else to go from here…

Suddenly he heard the ‘ _click!_ ’ of the lock, and the front door slid open to reveal his assumption _was_ correct - this was the same Flint he’d met a month back. And it seemed Flint made the realization that this was the same Steel.

“Can I--... _Steel_??” He asked.

“Yeah..hey kid,” Steel said, unsure now of where to take the conversation. But it would seem he didn’t need to take it anywhere, as the tightening over his engine began to interfere with his breathing again, and he’d started wheezing for breath like he was a fucking fish out of water.

Flint made - or rather tried to - make an advancement to Steel to help, but the black Taurus held a tread out to block him, turning to try and catch his breath himself.

He hadn’t gotten very far with the attempt.

“Chrysler...are you hurt? What the hell _happened_?” The RX-7 asked him, gazing over the array of wounds inflicted across the Taurus. He looked like he’d just narrowly escaped death, or at the very least delayed it. But it seemed he was headed back for disaster as he’d finally collapsed under his wheels, too dizzy and oxygen-deprived to continue to hold himself upright.

The last thing he remembered then was trying to keep the other at bay. He didn’t need to be involved, he hadn’t asked him to be. But he couldn’t as well get himself out of the situation now, and he didn’t have the strength to fight back. Finally, he’d given in, and as he’d been brought in to rest, he merely collapsed onto the sofa then and there, lying unconscious for hours to come.

\-----

As he came to again, he felt strangely warm yet cold at the same time. He could feel himself shiver slightly and sensed something warm and fluffy that was sprawled across his hood. He lazily dragged his eyes open, which took more effort than he would have liked to admit. All he could manage through the all-encompassing pain, which radiated from his engine, throat and sides, was a soft grunt of surprise as he looked straight into the face of a calico. The cat looked at him and trilled, a high-pitched happy noise that he recognized as greeting. 

_`Where the fuck am I?´_

A soft noise to his right got his attention and he saw Flint in the corners of his peripheral vision, reading a book in front of a fireplace. 

_`Hrnn…...the bookworm…….´_   
It was better than being alone though. That was the one thing he hated, being alone. The memories of the past 24 hours came crashing back and he couldn’t keep his eyes from watering, nor his throat from tightening. The calico seemed to sense his sudden change in emotions and sat up, emitting a loud noise of distress, and getting Flint’s attention. He looked up from his book - _‘the fucking kind of a book is called Harry Potter…’_ \- and realized the Taurus was awake finally.

He set the book down on the low end-table by his mat and came over to him. The cat got up and jumped from one hood to the other, curling up on Flint’s hood again. He seemed to be very comfortable around others.

“Good evening,” He said, “Are you..do you feel any better?” He asked, hesitantly as he examined the other’s wrought-looking expression.

“..I’m fine..” He said, pulling himself up a little onto his tires. Physically, he did feel a little better, though his engine still felt sickly and his sides hurt. Mentally however, he was a trainwreck.

“So...what happened to you?” Flint asked then, “I mean why are you all the way in Fostoria?”

“Izzat what this place is?” Steel asked, “Never heard of it..”

“You didn’t know where you were? And I mean it’s Ohio, but..how did you get lost and end up _here?_ ”

“Just did..” He answered, “Got into some hot water at home and..” - he cringed slightly at the realization of his rather sick unintended pun - “and so I had to leave.”

“What happened to your clan though? I thought you were the leader of a whole group?”

“ _Was_ ,” He corrected, “Until I was backstabbed…”

“Oh…” The Mazda looked down rather awkwardly, “I’m..sorry to hear that.”

The Taurus looked over questioningly at him, “How?”

“What do you mean?”

“How can you be sorry? They weren’t your problem, why would you care? You never actually got to know them. They were strangers to you.”

“Be..cause you care? And I care about you so if you care about them, I will too.” He said.

The Taurus just looked confused and baffled. ‘Caring’ was on the same level as ‘respecting’, and that was earned, not given. Flint was just a weird character to him, turning simple things into backwards concepts he still couldn’t wrap his head around. He was too soft, damn it! He didn’t make any sense.

“Well..” He didn’t really know how to address the considerations of the other, “Thanks I guess?”

“You’re welcome.” The Mazda smiled. “So then uh..if you don’t mind me asking, what _actually_ happened to you then to get you way out here?”

“...A lot.” Steel replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankies for reading!   
> We hope you enjoyed!


	5. Welcome to the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steel discovers the modern world.........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back!   
> Have a new chapter and fun reading! ^^

The two cars stayed up until shortly after midnight, Steel trying to catch the Mazda up to speed on his “latest and greatest adventure gone wrong”, and Flint trying to both comprehend the idea and give the Taurus a reassuring word. How he still had no understanding of the ‘modern world’ was beyond him.

The next morning, the young Mazda awoke to the familiar sound of Orion scratching against the door, meowing loudly and demanding to be fed. Yawning, he stretched and grumbled softly, slowly getting up and off of his bed. He rolled over to the door and opened it, not a second later the calico sneaked around his front tires, purring loudly and rubbing his head against his fenders. Flint chuckled softly, and carefully rolled into the kitchen, Orion trailing behind him, meowing to remind him of his apparent needs. 

Once he’d filled the calico’s bowl with kibble - against the calico impatiently waiting for him to put it down - he rolled back out and into the living room, set on getting some work done in the house. As he turned around to get an empty can back into the kitchen, he startled and froze as he saw a vehicle lying on his sofa. Then he recalled the events of the last evening, and relaxed. Just Steel.

Putting the can down, he rolled up to the Taurus and carefully lifted the blanket off of him, inspecting the bites that had been inflicted upon him. He had cleaned the wounds as best as he could, washing the crust of dirt and blood off of the other and putting a disinfectant over the opened gashes on some of the smaller bites. The Taurus had yet refused to tell him _exactly_ how he’d gotten those, but Flint could wait. Carefully inspecting his work, he saw with satisfaction that they looked a lot better than the previous evening, the flesh around them had softened again, and - carefully feeling the side of his muzzle - the Taurus’ fever had gone down during the night as well. As the other stirred slightly, he put the blanket back over him and recollected the can. 

Deciding to repay the other his hospitality from a month back, he grabbed two cans of oil and warmed them up slightly, then he returned to the slowly awakening Steel. The Taurus slowly blinked himself awake, his eyes lazily scanned the room, gazing over the walls and shelves, at all of the car’s odd little trinkets and doodads, the majority of which being related to space. The Taurus’ attention got drawn to Flint as the kid came back into his living room, two cans of oil balanced neatly on his hood.

“Morning, Steel! Hope you’ve slept somewhat well?” he asked, with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, before putting the can down in front of the Taurus, who gazed at it with obvious appetite. 

“Pain aside, I don’t think I’ve ever slept _better_.” he answered honestly, carefully reaching out for the can and taking it once he got a nod and a smile from the smaller vehicle. He took a small, testing sip of the unknown fluid, but had sucked it down in one go once the substance hit his taste buds.

_‘How can oil be that good?!?’_

The stuff that he was used to was the cheap crap that was most often diluted with some other stuff in order to sell it even cheaper. Whatever it was that Flint had offered him for breakfast now was a whole lot better than that. 

Once the can was empty, he put it onto the floor and stretched, his joints popping as he eased them. He clambered off of the sofa, Flint shooting him a weirded out glance as he rolled to the door.

“Steel? Where are you driving to?” Flint asks with a laugh. 

“On Patrol, can’t have those Rogues infilt-!….Oh……ya...crap……” he stopped, as he realized that he was further from home than ever before - and that even if he did return, it would no longer _be_ his home.

Not without those he loved.

Driving back to the other, he laid down on the sofa again, staring at the ground in front of himself, a sad frown of his face. His core ached as he drifted off into memories. 

One hurt especially. 

_“Jeff! Stan! Look what I found! Is is that gold?!” asks a small, young Taurus excitedly.  
He drives up to an old Chevelle and a Thunderbird, and holds his small tire out to the larger cars, balancing a shiny, yellow nugget on his rim. Stanley looks at the nugget and chuckles, Jeffrey joining him once he inspected it with his good eye._

__“I fear not my dear, it’s Pyrite, cat’s gold. It looks quite the same indeed, but it’s just a joke of nature.” explains Jeffrey with a smile._ _

___“Oh….so it’s worthless?” asks the little car sadly._ _ _

____“I fear so, little one. But don’t be sad, it’s pretty to look at, and you know, later when you want to impress the ladies I’m sure they’ll be baffled when they see that you’ve found Pyrite. It’s quite rare here, you know, nugget.”_ _ _ _

_____“Nugget?”_ _ _ _ _

______“Yes. A new nickname for my little gold digger!” says Jeffrey before he scoops the younger up and tickles him._ _ _ _ _ _

_____A sad smile graces the now adulted Taurus features and he sniffs softly, for a moment forgetting that he wasn’t alone.He quickly recollects his composure though as he sees Flint shift to face him out of the corner of his peripheral vision. He clears his throat and blinks a few times, trying to act indifferent before the other could catch on to his moment of weakness._ _ _ _ _

_____“Don’t you city-cars have some...weird places to be?” he asked, a bit rougher than he intended._ _ _ _ _

_____“Well, it’s Monday, I’m off on Mondays and Thursdays so...Nope. No work for me today.” he said with a smile. The Taurus shifted uncomfortably as Flint gazed over him, taking in every detail of his beaten frame._ _ _ _ _

_____“How about you take a nice warm bath, while I try to get the doc on the horn to take a look at your engine?”_ _ _ _ _

_____“A bath? Doc?”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Yeah. Hot water, in a bathtub, with soap and all that stuff? And that dude that fixes you up when you’re hurt?” he explained._ _ _ _ _

_____The Mazda was met with a confusedly blank stare._ _ _ _ _

_____Sighing softly, he led the other down the hall to a section of room the other car seemed to never have realized even existed, or needed to - a bathroom. This wasn’t anything fancy, just a tub/shower combo, among other hygiene-related room things. The Taurus spluttered and got big eyes as he turned the warm water on and let it fill the tub. Apparently, he’d never seen flowing water before…_ _ _ _ _

_____“Lukewarm? Or would you prefer colder?” The RX-7 asked him._ _ _ _ _

_____“You can...you can change the temperature?” Steel asked._ _ _ _ _

_____“Modern innovation.” Flint said, “We have water lines and water heaters now, so...yes!”_ _ _ _ _

_____While Flint went on, explaining how faucets and water heaters came to be, Steel started to feel intrigued by the rapidly flowing water. His hunter’s instinct told him to kill the ‘prey’, while his mind told him not to make a fool out of himself..._ _ _ _ _

_____...In the end, his instinct won._ _ _ _ _

_____With a growl and a fierce expression on his face, he started to lash out at the liquid, biting and snapping after it as it continued to fill the tub. No matter how often he bit it, it wouldn’t stop flowing! Growling he decided to try and bite it’s ‘source‘. The faucet didn’t give in to his jaws like expected, and instead started to fill his mouth with water, until he swallowed some and spit it out, coughing and gasping for air while Flint, who had watched him the entire time, started to laugh so badly that he tipped over onto his side._ _ _ _ _

_____“A-alright let’s not flood your engine again.” He said, between chuckles._ _ _ _ _

_____Flint wasn’t sure why he expected, once the tub was full, that Steel would be able to do the rest himself, and he could call up the doctor about home appointments. But realizing the only thing the Taurus had done until now was go through a river and shake the excess water off, he’d have to go to square one in learning to clean himself. Or at the very least keep his wounds cleaned._ _ _ _ _

_____The harder challenge still was getting him to _stay_ in the water - “It leaves you _vulnerable!!_ Enemies could come at you and you wouldn’t be able to prepare!” - and convincing him that it was okay to relax. But he guessed he couldn’t blame that on just his instinct - he had already had some pretty bad water experiences as of late._ _ _ _ _

_____It took some trial and error, but once he could be sure the Taurus would stay where he was, he was able to leave the room just long enough to set up an appointment over the phone. However, the soonest he could be there was Thursday, which left him two days - two _work_ days - to try and keep the Taurus from setting the house ablaze._ _ _ _ _

_____“Heyy, so good news and bad news,” Flint said from the doorway, “I got an appointment for you here to take a look at your engine.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“And that’s...good?” The Taurus asked._ _ _ _ _

_____“Well theoretically, he should be able to fix it...so yeah.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“What’s the bad?”_ _ _ _ _

_____“We got three days until he can be here, so I need you to…” - he tried to attempt a good way of explaining it, only managing to make swirling motions with his tires - “try to be… _civil_ , for a few days, like try to act like this isn’t all terrible.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“But it could be..”_ _ _ _ _

_____“But it’s not, and we’ll figure out how to get you to see that it’s not…” He said, though vaguely he wondered how they would be able to pull that off. What were they supposed to do about the doctor’s appointment itself when they came to it? Steel sure as heck wasn’t just going to be “okay” with a check-up. And there really wasn’t any good way to teach him it was alright beforehand, except for trying to explain it and hoping he wouldn’t take him as a threat. Wishful thinking…_ _ _ _ _

_____When Flint was satisfied that the Taurus was clean enough - the dirt and mud that had been stuck to his fenders cleared off, and the wounds across his back looking better - he had him dried off and brought back to the living room._ _ _ _ _

_____“So why haven’t you patrolled yet then?” Steel asked casually. Flint quirked a brow at him,_ _ _ _ _

_____“Uh..because I..don’t?”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Why aren’t you dead yet…” Steel questioned, more to himself than Flint._ _ _ _ _

_____“Well, because we don’t _need_ to ‘patrol’ here. You’re safe.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Hm.” The Taurus huffed indifferently._ _ _ _ _

_____“Look, how about I show you another great invention of the modern world? I think you might like it.” He said. He handed Steel a small black rectangle from off of the end of the couch. The top of it was covered in colorful buttons._ _ _ _ _

_____“Here, just point at the black box-” - Flint pointed to the box off to the side of the fireplace mounted against the wall - “-And hit _this_ button…”_ _ _ _ _

_____The television flicked to life after a moment, and the Taurus jumped back a bit, startled. The screen was just on the news channel, the most boring thing ever, but not to him. How’d they even get them to fit into the…_ _ _ _ _

_____“You are officially a wizard.” He commented._ _ _ _ _

_____“And now you are too!” Flint chirped happily, offering him the remote._ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!   
> We hope you enjoyed!


	6. Familiarity in a foreign realm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shenanigans ensueing, prepare for an insight of the live of clan cars and what it's like to try an buy stuff with someone who thinks everyone else in an enemy..........
> 
> In other words: Flint is a poor soul, and Steel the unintended troublemaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Blows dust off* We're back! *silence*   
> ....I don't even know what I'm doing here right now, I'm apollogizing for the long wait, but we're, hopefully, back in buiseness soon!   
> And now, without further ado, please have fun reading!

Steel stared at the remote like it was gonna bite him, before carefully reaching his tire out to take it. He tried a few buttons, the television switching from the news to a romance, to a channel that was rerunning an old helicopter TV cop show, and finally to a documentary about Africa’s wildlife. 

The screen showed some adulted gazelles and zebras that were grazing in a wide open plain, a couple of cranes gracefully stalking through the nearby watering hole, possibly looking for frogs to eat. A flock of other, smaller birds were flying some crazy maneuvers above the landscape.

Flint was at first happy that the Taurus was finally making some progress in understanding the ‘modern world’...

He quickly revised his opinion, however, as the other suddenly growled and got ready to pounce, ducking low over the carpet, his front bumper pressed to the ground.

Before Flint had any time to react, the Taurus’ powerful rear axles catapulted him forwards…

….and right into the TV. 

The device broke off of the wall, the screen flickering and greying out, sparks shooting out of several cracks. Perplexed and confused, the black and white car looked around, searching the prey that he’d meant to hunt, but only finding a shocked - and _slightly_ pissed off - Mazda glaring daggers at him. 

“......What did you _do_ ….?...” 

“I was trying to get us a proper lunch but the prey ran away!”

“Why are you trying to hunt for lunch, we can go get crap from the store!”

“The...like a black market? With food trade?” The Taurus asked, cocking his head in curiosity. 

“No,” the navy car shook his front, “It’s where you get food, _just_ food, in a _civil_ environment, and you pay for it with _money_.”

The Taurus relaxed his stance again, looking confusedly at the younger male, “I’ve heard of money before, just never...never had any. We never used it. Never needed to make anything of trade, unless we needed something that wasn’t food. We just exchanged our needs with whatever we had on tread...usually stolen goods…”

“Well, now you have to use mon- wait! Did you just say _stolen_?!?” 

“.....yeah….?..”

“You guys were _stealing_ stuff?!?” 

The other chuckled dryly, shook his head and motioned for Flint to follow him to the couch. The younger did as ordered, even though he was still quite upset about his broken TV. Not like that thing had been expensive…

Once they were comfortable on the couch - Flint staring sadly at his demolished TV, Steel giving him guilty side glances - the older inhaled deeply before starting. 

“Firstly, sorry about that, when the instincts take over it’s hard to suppress them again. Secondly, I know that the life I led must seem quite primitive to you,”   
Flint opened his mouth to say something but Steel hushed him by raising his tread, 

“I’m not stupid I’ve seen your side glances, Paper boy.” - He got an indignant squawk as reply - “But believe me, we didn’t have another choice.   
“The city doesn’t care about us, quite the opposite in fact. Long before I became leader, one of my predecessors tried to make a deal with Chicago’s government, they asked them to allow our clan members to get jobs in the city, earn money and start to live a life _worthy_ of living. In exchange we would provide them security from the Rogues, they tend to go into the city and cause havoc.   
“You know what they did?   
“They laughed at them. Told them that no one would ever want a _savage_ in their stores and companies. At the time the clans were apparently at least allowed to go to the food banks, to get a warm meal, and maybe some meds for our sick ones. A day after their plea, the government banished the clans from the city. Since then, each “non-city-car” that dared to come into Chicago and got caught, was being locked away for days, and released on Rogue grounds. I think you can imagine how most of those encounters ended.” 

Flint nodded silently, slowly beginning to understand why Steel behaved like he did. 

“So, with no other choice left, we started to steal stuff -we never robbed anyone, just waited till it was dark and then sneaked through back alleys and yards, to the trash bins of the markets and restaurants. Getting what was thrown out. When we needed parts, we-”

“Don’t tell me you opened up graves!” shouted Flint, shocked. 

“Wha- No! Nonononono, that we did _not_. We started to trade food and, certain _other_ things, with some local mechanics. And well, after some time with no real contact to any real civilized cars, we just, well. Went back to the roots I guess.” 

“And so you guys started to rely more on your basic instincts, and started to go hunting?” 

“Yeah pretty much. And well, being raised like that, how was I ever supposed to learn anything about your modern world? Sure, my caretakers did what they could to teach me what they knew about the world they grew up in, but that was long before our time. I mean yeah, I can read, I can write, even though it’s not really all that readable,” he added with a sheepish grin, “But still, they grew up in a world where the most technological thing was a radio, yeah, surprise I know what _that_ is at least.” 

“At least I know my radio will be safe then…” Flint said dryly.

“But I’ll try to learn this,” He said, “I don’t know how long I’ll stay, or where I’ll go from here, but I’ll at least try to understand things the way you know them.”

“Well,” Flint said, getting up from the couch to look over the carcass of the deceased television, “How about we start with a trip to the store? We can go get another TV to...hopefully not kill.” As he said that, a few more sparks spat out from it’s screen. He should probably move it out to the front curb before it accidentally set the house on fire.

“Lead the way.” The Taurus said.

After the two had the TV taken down from it’s post and leaving it on the curbside to be picked up later (“We have trash removal services here.”) they headed out for the town. Steel could see Orion jumping up to sit in the window sill of the house, watching as they left.  
Fostoria was a small town to begin with, so there wasn’t all that much in the way of places to go, and what there was, there were only so many of - shops and stores included. They had only just recently gotten a Carmart built in town, but now it was the most frequented store within a 20-mile radius, and that was where Steel was taken first.  
“It’s like the warehouse...but _alive_...” He said, gazing up the ceilings to the long LED lights lining the top.  
“Did you guys ever even use the lights in yours?” Flint asked.  
“No,” he said, “They were all broken anyways, and we didn’t want to attract attention or make it look like we actually stayed there.”  
“So it was meant to stay looking abandoned..” Flint said.

Steel followed closely behind the young Mazda RX-7, eyes darting to every corner of the store, ogling over the rows of things. This would have been a king’s palace if it looked more castle-like on the outside.

“Any food preferences?” Flint asked him, “I mean, I know we’re getting a TV replacement but I didn’t know if you wanted to get some of your own stuff while you’re here.”

The Taurus considered the options - they had literally _everything_ , yet the only things he could remember he liked were the meats they found on hunts and whatever scraps they came across that were good enough to take. Vegetables were pretty weird to him still. But there was so much here, most of which he’d rarely - if _ever_ \- even had before. Why not take the opportunity to try something new?

“What do you normally get?” He asked.

“Well...usually stuff that’s easy to make,” Flint told him, “I’m not the worst cook, but I don’t really cook a lot of big meals just for myself.”

“So what’s that usually?”

“Mostly microwave meals and sandwich makings.”

“Micro..wave?”

“It’s a box that heats up food quickly. Like an oven on steroids.”  
“...ah.”

The two headed through an aisle with the “microwave meals” Flint had mentioned, among other frozen foods - mostly meats. While Flint was busy picking out which ones he thought Steel might like (meaning anything of more meat than vegetables), he thought he heard the Taurus begin to growl from behind him. Looking back from the freezer door, he noticed a stranger driving past.  
“What’s up with you?” He asked.

“There’s other folks in here taking stuff, shouldn’t you be worried?”

“So are we. Look we’re not enemies with anyone here.”

“So what, you’re all like one big clan in Fostoria?”

“No, we’re all like strangers, we aren’t clans and we aren’t enemies. Everybody is the same, so we all get food from the same place and that’s okay because we’re equals.”

The concept felt completely foreign and new to the red-eyed car. Equals? There were only higher and lower ranked members in his Clan, and the outsiders and Rogues of their enemies. ‘Equals’ never applied. Not in the world of survival. The only ones he had ever been equal with were the leaders of other clans, since they had the same rank as him, and only because they earned it like he had.

“So...so everyone here is like...all the same leaders?” He ventured.

“Uhh I guess so, if you want to look at it that way.” Flint said.

Steel suddenly felt guilty for having growled a warning at the other car, suddenly understanding that she, the apparent ‘equivalent to a clan leader’, was being treated as a ‘lower member’. He wouldn’t get to excuse his behavior to her, however, because the car seemed to have gone off completely...oh well.

The two males continued their store searching, headed to the “tech section” last.

“What works well at a decent price…” Flint wondered aloud, eyes scanning over the few variants they had mounted on the wall. Steel seemed fascinated with the fact that they were all playing the same thing on the screen, though some had different coloring or played earlier or later than some.

For a while it seemed like they were back to smooth sailing, Steel having since learned to contain himself and stay quiet - well, he still ogled over the store selection, but he wasn’t making a scene out of it. And then all too suddenly, the car he’d accidentally defended himself from was back...with a friend.

The burgundy colored Tesla glared daggers at the Taurus, who blinked back confusedly and flustered. She had returned with a large Ford Raptor who clearly wore the paint of someone that worked here, logo across his sides and everything.

“I was told there was some sort of situation that went on here?” He questioned, voice low and drawn - Steel thought he sounded something relative to a cowboy.

“Unless there was some other proof that this was accidental.” The dark-colored car prodded.

“Oh, I’m uh..I was just..” Steel stammered, looking back for Flint’s guidance. But he was on the other end of the aisle already, not having noticed Steel trailing back or being stopped by the other two. He turned to go back to him, but the woman cut him off.

“Well?” she demanded.

“Look, I didn’t do anything,” He said, feeling confronted and pressured, and the agitation was again beginning to rise, “I didn’t know any better then anyways and you came in out of nowhere!”

“So you _did_ act out of aggression then, is that correct?” The Raptor asked.

“Well I, ugh, so what if I did, I didn’t _do_ anything!”

“Didn’t do anything?! You mister, growled at me like some feral _animal_! That is not “nothing”! Have your parents never taught you how to behave in public?” the Tesla said again. 

Overhearing the commotion, Flint turned around to make sure that Steel didn’t get involved - too late it seemed. Apparently one of the two other cars that were currently blocking the Taurus’ path had said something that struck a nerve, and he could see how he started to tense up even from here. 

“Shoot!” he cursed under his breath - well, about as close to a curse as Flint got - as he hurried to get in between the barely restrained Taurus and the obviously unpleased other two cars. 

Mazda’s aren’t built to be muscle cars. They’re especially not built to hold back a snarling Ford Taurus on slippery marble floors. Even as his jaws were secured against the other’s back fender, his tires went squealing under the pavement behind him, even against him putting all his weight into pulling Steel back.

The only reason that the Tesla was not soon shredded to bits was the quick-acting of the security guard, practically launching the both of them back in one swing. The both of them ditched the basket and fled under the guard’s snarled warning. Even Steel knew there was no use in putting up such a fight against a Raptor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for reading!   
> We hope you enjoyed!   
> If you're in the mood, feel free to leave a comment, it's appreciated!   
> Clear skies, and free roads!


	7. Hell in a handbasket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes we have to leave to protect those we love. Even if it means wandering off alone into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaaw xD A new chapter is out folks!  
> It is like the weather: Fluctuating between a sad and rainy day and a sweet and golden sunset.  
> We hope you enjoy, and have fun reading!

They were kicked out of the store after that. Steel for his actions against another vehicle, and Flint for having allowed this to happen under his care. While they didn’t get a house ban - for now - Flint couldn’t help but be angry about Steel’s behaviour. It had all seemed to work so perfectly, but then? He just had to try and maul the Tesla. Of course, why _not!?_

He sighed, looking into his rearview mirror as the two went down the road back home. He saw the Taurus at least had the decency to look somewhat ashamed behind him. 

They arrived at the house simply enough; the broken TV still laid out on the curb and poked Flint’s anger, but he unlocked the door and rolled inside without another word. When he didn’t hear the door close again, he realized that Steel was still outside. He drove back to the doorway to call the other inside, prepared to see him ogling over something modern and normal again, only to find him sitting by the porch, looking at the ground in defeat. Orion came out to walk beside him, sneaking around his back tires, rubbing his comparatively tiny head against the Taurus’ scared flank. Worry mixed with his anger, and ended up overriding it.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Wh-...What?” Flint didn’t think he had the vulnerability in him to apologize so openly.

“I said ‘I’m sorry’. I hadn’t meant to get you into trouble.” 

_‘Had he just, had he just apologized?!? Yup,’_ Flint realized, looking at the other’s slumped form, _‘he did just utter an apology. A_ real _apology.’_

“It’s okay.” He reassured, “That Tesla was a stuck up wanna-be, right? I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Hm, Sure, and I’m a Mini Cooper then. My… _misbehaviour_...it got you into big trouble,” Flint wanted to say something, but his mind screamed at him to keep quiet.

“It was my duty as leader to keep my people safe. And now? I’ve fucked up, again and again and _again!_.....and _you’re_ the one, who has to take the beating, for _my_ mistakes.” He told him, finally turning to look at him with tear-streaked sides. “What kind of leader, what kind of… _friend_ , am I to allow that?”  
Flint could see the mourning fear in the Taurus’ face, and there was a deep, fresh hurt in his eyes. And _hate_. His eyes were filled with a burning self-loathing.

Flint looked away from him then, too ashamed to see more. He stared blankly at the ground, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s okay.” 

He looked up again as he heard the other whisper softly. 

“What?” 

“It’s okay. Thank you, for giving me shelter, and for taking care of those,” - he pointed at his slowly healing wounds - “but if I stay any longer, I’ll just cause you more trouble than someone like you can stand.” With that, he got up and drove to the fenceline; opening the gate, he turned around to face him once more. 

“Take care, Flint. Who knows? Maybe our paths will cross again someday.” 

With _that_ , he turned onto the street and drove away, not looking back even as Flint got up to drive down into the front lawn, shouting his name, begging him to reconsider his choice. At this moment, nothing was okay anymore.

Once he couldn’t see the Taurus anymore, once he stopped trying to tell him to come back, he slowly drove back into the house, Orion mewed softly, almost as if he was asking him where Steel was. “He’s gone,buddy...” he said softly, petting the calico’s head.

_He had gone, and who knew if he would ever return?_

He must’ve been on the move for at least a couple of hours at this point. His tanks were uncomfortably empty and his stomach was growling loudly, demanding food. The wind had freshened up again, and dark clouds were moving in overhead. He had no idea where he was, or how far he’d gone from Flint’s house, only wanting to get away as fast as possible, not wanting to cause the other more trouble. He might not have noticed, but he was very schooled in reading other people, and Flint’s residing anger had been almost palpable to him. 

Sighing, he paused at an intersection with a rusty stop sign, laying down to rest for a few minutes. His life had been turned upside down, left to right and inside out in a matter of hours, and he wasn’t the best at coping with the extreme changes. The people he trusted most were either dead or exiled, his territory had fallen to the Rogues, and his caretakers…the only family he’d ever known, had been murdered. He had fucked up with Flint, and he had failed as leader. 

“Well, at least it can’t get any worse now…” he told himself.

And then it started to rain as if on cue, and in a matter of minutes he was soaked to the core.

“...of course it gets worse…” 

He tried to get up again, slipping in the mud and faceplanting back onto the ground. He spit and cursed, but stayed splayed out where he was, letting the rain wash away the mud. He stayed like that for a while, all four tires spread out to the winds, belly on the ground, eyes staring ahead emptily, brokenly. What would become of him now?

He wanted to cry, yet in his core he knew he needed to be strong. But at the same time, he felt as weak as ever before. He had no idea where he was, nor how he was going to get back to where he started - wherever that may be.

“What sense is there in wasting more strength?” he whispered softly to himself. Closing his eyes, he let his frame be caressed by the rain and wind, hoping that the thick droplets would cover up his tears, as his walls finally started to crumble and fall.

He slowly became aware of the world around him again as someone gently shook him, then a warm, worried feminine tone somewhere to his left got his attention. Opening his eyes, he startled backwards with a shriek as he came face to face with a huge bus. He almost catapulted himself onto his rear tires, stumbling backwards and tumbling down into the ditch behind him, ending up on his roof.

“...oww..” he muttered flatly, as the bus came beside him, muttering apologies and trying to reach him. 

“Oh chrysler, I’m so sorry! I hadn’t meant to startle you so badly sweetie! Are you okay?” 

“‘M fine, don’t worry about it…’s kinda fitting to my life right now anyways.” 

“Oh? Did it get turned upside down, too?” She carefully righted the black and white car back up, and tried - and failed - to wipe off some of the dirt and mud that now covered his entire backside.

“Yup,” He told her, “In a matter of hours everything I knew just _‘POOF!’_ Gone. My Family? Dead. My territory? Stolen. My Clan? Either exiled or about to be killed by the government. I myself? Lost…..and now I’m talking to a complete stranger, alright! Good job! Now you didn’t just fuck up as leader, no! You also fucked up at keeping yourself out of any more trouble!” He sighed and slumped, trying to ignore the obviously pitiful Bus, and her worried, almost mother like glances. She no doubt thought he was losing it, but there was that sweet smile of caring for his well-being that he never would have guessed he’d see in such a complete stranger.

“Maybe Draxter was right after all, and everyone's better off without me..,” 

“Hey! Now don’t say that! I mean, I dunno who this Draxter guy is, but believe me honey, I’m dealing with assholes each and every day. Just don’t let them get into your head, okay?” 

“...Okay…”

“I can’t hear youu~”

“Okay!” he said with a soft smile. As persistent as the older woman was, she was charming with her sing-song voice and spirited attitude.

“There we go! I knew there was a smile somewhere in there! Okay baby, I got a schedule to keep, so got any idea where you want to get? Cuz’ I'm headed to Shelbyville, Indiana.”

“Actually? No. Not a clue.” 

“Well, I did startle you pretty bad anyways, how ‘bout I make it up to you and you can hitch a little ride for free, hm? Then you can go find somewhere you’ll wanna be.” 

“That’d be lovely, ma’am.” 

“Ohh, cut that ‘ma’am’ crap! My name’s Eve, baby, I’m pleased to meet you! And what’s your name, sugar?”

“Just call me Steel.” 

“Alright! Steel it is then! Well, come on aboard, Steel! I got routes to run, let’s go!”

He chuckled and did as told, taking a free spot at a window. He watched the landscape drift by as Eve gained speed again, feeling the drop of hydraulics off of her brakes as her engine rumbled forward.

Little did he know that his openness to Eve would have consequences for him, starting with a dark painted, frowning Pittie in the cab with him, who eyed him suspiciously as he pretended to read the newspaper. He paused to dial a number into his phone, waiting a few core beats until someone picked up on the other side.

“Commissioner Freelie, what is it, Deputy?” 

“He’s here.” The pittie whispered, “I found Steel Ruskow, Sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for reading guys and girls!  
> We hope you enjoy this story so far and have a good time reading it.  
> If you're up to it you are welcome to leave a comment, if not, then we at least hope you liked what you read.  
> Clear skies, free roads and untroubled waters!


	8. When they come for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steel get's into trouble.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! nwn   
> We wish you lots of fun reading this and hope you enjoy your stay in our world while it lasts.

It must have been about five hours now since Steel had left, and everything inside his house reminded him of the other. Whether it was the dent in the wall, where Steel had collided with the TV, the dried up patch of blood on his couch from where he’d cleaned his wounds, or the empty can that stood beside it. Even the light scratches on the bathtub faucet reminded him of the crazy Taurus. But crazy in a good way.

Orion jumped up onto his hood, pawing him softly before laying down and sprawling out on him.

“Well buddy, looks like we’re alone again.” He told him. Orion mewed softly and looked at him, purring. Flint smiled down at him softly. He didn’t understand, never would. He was a cat after all.

Meanwhile, way out in Shelbyville, Steel thanked Eve after she’d taken him with her to the city. Dusk had come, and he was looking for a suitable place to sleep. It was November, and the temperatures were sinking below the freezing point during the night. As he roamed through the streets, he came across an old church, with stained glass windows and everything. It was a beautiful building. From inside, he could hear a choir of children, apparently beginning to sing “Mary did you know?”. With nothing better to do and nowhere better to go, he decided to stop and listen to their performance. Or, well what was presumed to be a performance.

“Mewy did you know,  
dat your baby boy,  
would one day walk on wata?  
Mewy did you know,  
dat your baby boy,  
would save our suns and daughters?  
Did you know dat your baby boy-” 

“Stop, stop stop stop stop!” The choir leader, a frazzled looking female, suddenly waved for the group to stop their attempted song, “Stop right now, right there! Children, did you even learn the song Mrs. Harless taught you? I mean really, _really_ , even a deaf person would cringe at that!” The white and pink Mitsubishi turned around from her flock of students to face Steel as he approached, and an old lady that had stopped by as well.

“You, good gentleman,” She asked, pointing to the Taurus, “Do you know this song?” 

“Uh...yeah?” 

“Good! Would you mind singing a few verses of it and show these children the keys they are missing?” 

Steel knew that this wasn’t a “request”, but rather an order.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, cleared his throat and recalled each smoothed syllable of the song, before he started, oblivious to the teacher’s astounded and almost mesmerized expression as he sang, with a deep, smooth baritone voice.

“Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?  
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?  
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?  
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you...” 

_Memories of his childhood replayed before his inner eyes…_

“Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?  
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?  
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?  
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God”

_He could see himself, after the final fight against Jake, as the new leader of the clan, standing wounded, but proudly, with Jeffrey looking at him with the pride only a father could have._

“Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?  
Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

“The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again  
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

“Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?  
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?  
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb?  
That sleeping child you're holding is the great I am” 

_He saw the warehouse, in ruins, blood everywhere. He could see Jeffrey’s empty eyes and Zach’s lecherous smirk…_

“Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?  
Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know? 

Oh

Mary did you know?”

He finished softly, eyes still closed and voice a bit hoarse - it had been a long time since he had sung anything, especially since he had out loud in a full voice.

As he opened his eyes again, he was met with a crowd of staring people. They were all gawking at him like he had just made a miracle happen. Feeling uncomfortable under all the attention, he stuttered out some random words and reversed, the crowd following him with their eyes, making his discomfort rise.

“Eehhmm….I- I gotta go!” he quickly excused himself, practically fleeing from all the staring as they seemed to drill a hole into his back. Wheeling around the dark city streets, he eventually came to a dead end; it was dark, dirty and smelled like something was rotting away for a couple of weeks, but he’d rather spend one night here than getting stared at like some circus attraction!

He gathered a couple of old boxes and wooden planks, with which he quickly built himself a shelter for the night, before curling up into himself and trying to fall asleep. Despite it having been just a single night, his body refused to feel comfortable on the hard ground. 

Which was weird, considering that he spent the entire last 20 years sleeping on hard ground. 

He sighed deeply, trying to get his thoughts to stop and his body to calm down. It took seemingly ages to, but eventually his eyes drooped and he felt every muscle and fiber in his body begin to relax. This was still normal, this was back to _his_ kind of normal.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but the sky was still dark as something startled him awake. It was a noise that came from somewhere near him, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint from where exactly. What was more unsettling was the amount of new smells and sounds that he wasn’t used to. He looked around blindly in the dark, his usually unfailable eyes refusing to see in the pitch-black of night. He tried to keep his breaths even and slow to keep the thing around him in the belief that he was still asleep.

Which proved to have been a big mistake. 

He only got up suddenly as he heard the unmistakable _‘clink!’_ of a metal boot, and at the sight of the officers he about jumped out of his paint.

At the head of the group - about three officers in total - was a pittie he vaguely recognized.

“Steel Ruskow, you are under arrest, for--”

“ _NOT ON MY LIFE!!!_ ” Steel may have been down to sleep, but he was up again faster than they could predict, and he was out of there like that. Shame they hadn’t been able to fasten the boot to him quick enough, as he’d already taken off. Let the chase begin.

“After him!”

The streets were lit with lamp posts and traffic signals, but relatively quiet on the roads. Steel punched it and was out of their sight good, thinking he could outrun them, until…

_[insert very bad engine noise here plz]_

His engine was still only running half of what it should’ve, empty and overheating too quickly for him to notice. The sting went past more than his engine, all through his body in wracked waves. He wouldn’t be able to keep up the chase, and he could hear their blaring sirens closing in on him as he had no choice but to brake.

He took to the only other thing he could do in his situation, finding a suitable enough hiding place that wasn’t cornered by anything and hunkering down, hoping they would fly past him. Heat was already rippling over his hood like he’d been in the heat of an Arizona summer for hours on end, and it wouldn’t cool down. Even as the sirens came nearer still, he couldn’t hold back his need for air, though he tried suppressing his gasps and chokes for oxygen as he stayed out of their sight.

The sirens stopped suddenly, and he thought they were gone. They must’ve given up. He slumped down again into the floor, breathing a sigh of relief, as his front finally stopped burning so badly. But it sent chills down his sides as the heat faded away, which was arguably better or worse. The damn thing couldn’t work right anymore and he didn’t know how to fix it without ending up in some hell of a doctor’s office like Flint had suggested…

His train of thought however was stopped by the force in his side suddenly pinning him to the floor.

They hadn’t left, but rather silenced their search, and when he thought he could relax they were on him again. They didn’t make their mistake with the boot this time, either. Lights in his eyes blinded him as the officers held him down, but from behind the white glares he could make out that damn pittie’s silhouette. Son of a bitch must’ve followed him out here to report him, and drag him to jail for existing. That’s what it felt like, anyways.

“Evening officers,” He spat, glaring acidicly at their apparent commander, “Finally do something then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankies for reading!   
> You guys know the drill! nwn

**Author's Note:**

> Thankies for reading!  
> We hope you enjoyed this first chapter! 
> 
> And Pen, I can't thank you enough for working on this with me, it's so much fun!


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